Medical College of Georgia
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology
Medical College of Georgia
Department of Medicine: Pulmonary
Administration
Department of The Graduate School
My teaching interests center on cardiovascular and pulmonary vascular biology with hands-on research training. I enjoy mentoring students in experimental design, data interpretation, and the development of scientific writing and presentation skills. I am also interested in teaching courses that bridge molecular mechanisms with clinically relevant disease models, including HIV-associated pulmonary vascular disease.
My research focuses on investigating the mechanistic links between HIV and pulmonary vascular disease (PVD) while identifying the molecular mechanisms through which HIV-derived proteins contribute to the pathological processes of HIV-associated pulmonary vascular remodeling and cardiopulmonary alterations. My program uses mouse models of HIV and smooth muscle-specific knockout (KO) mouse models to explore the signaling pathways involved in HIV-related PVD. We utilize echocardiography, hemodynamic measurements, and morphometric analysis to assess pulmonary arterial remodeling, PVD, and right ventricular hypertrophy (RVH), along with in vitro molecular biology approaches in primary isolated vascular smooth muscle cells to dissect the underlying molecular mechanisms involved in these processes. Our long-term goal is to develop new therapeutic strategies for the intervention and treatment of HIV-associated cardiopulmonary complications.
